King of Clay: Rafael Nadal wins record 11th French Open title

10 June 2018

Further proof: He has lost only one set in the past two years at Roland Garros.

Nadal joins Australia's Margaret Court as the only player to win 11 titles at the same major.

Nadal is now the first player in the Open Era, male or female, to win the same Grand Slam tournament 11 times, a feat that has been dubbed La Undécima, after Real Madrid's bid to win an 11th European Cup.

Rafael Nadal, the 10-time champion only stands in the Austrian's path of winning a major in his first ever slam final.

As he powered his way to victory, Nadal sported the Nike Air Zoom Cage 3 sneaker.

Seventh seed Thiem arrived on a sultry Court Philippe Chatrier with three career wins over Nadal, all on clay, and in an absorbing first set lasting an hour showed why ― going toe-to-toe in some ferocious rallies.

He hit a forehand long for 0-30 and then hit another forehand into the net to gift Nadal three set points.

Wimbledon remains a target for the 32-year-old, however his camp will have seen the number of physical problems he's been forced to overcome over the course of the French Open. It was his first defeat on the Parisian clay. Nadal winning another French title might seem like a given from the outside, but scenes like this are a reminder to him and to us that breaking through again and again has tolls that match the rewards. Sunday's victory guaranteed that he will remain No. 1 in the rankings. The World No. 1 completed his 11-title haul at the Monte Carlo Masters and at Barcelona Open earlier this year.

Ken Rosewall, who won the title in 1953 and 1968, presented Nadal with the trophy. They should name the stadium after him at this point.

The emotional Spaniard wiped away tears as he held on to the Coupe de Mousquetaires.

Though Thiem may pose a threat to Nadal's dominance, he has endured some struggles at Roland Garros.

Taking on Nadal at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament is a whole other challenge.

It was his most one-sided final win since allowing Federer just four games in the 2008 final. It was a first Grand Slam final for Thiem, a 24-year-old Austrian. He converts to win the first set 6-4.

Paris:Rafael Nadal hailed his 11th French Open title as "just incredible" after he demolished Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 despite a worrying injury scare in the closing stages of Sunday's final.

Nadal has won each of the finals he has contested at Roland Garros, and has won 11 of the last 14 French Open titles.